Remember My Name
by vertigoSWAY
Summary: Orphanage? There was no orphanage, but there was him and only him. That man... That scary, terrifying Captain that burned through time like the sun. Who is this mysterious 5 year old and what part does she play in the Captain's past?
1. This is Cardiff

Cardiff was a nice town. Quiet. Peaceful. Alright weather. It was interesting, for Wales. It had Roald Dahl, that one author whose books were sensational. It had the Roald Dahl Plass with the Millennium Building right next to it. If someone visited the town, they'd have to agree. Cardiff was an alright place.

Of course, if you lived in the town long enough, you might notice weird stories in the news. People who claimed to have seen monsters and creatures from hell in their own living rooms.

Cardiff was alright.

Sure. Just keep telling yourself that.

* * *

"Owen!" Jack warned, as he felt himself getting shot twice in the arm.

"I'm working on it!" the medic yelled back, producing a sedative he'd made from items found in the nearby convenience store. Another Weevil sighting had been reported and this was just one of the many late routine checks around Cardiff. Owen took a syringe and let it suck the sedative.

"Owen!" Jack yelled again, this time taking a bullet to his leg. Clever Weevil found a way to wield a gun. This was _not_ amusing.

"Okay!" Owen cried and ran behind the Weevil. "Just distract it!"

"Who'd be interested in you?" Jack panted, shooting the ground and regaining the Weevil's attention. Owen stabbed the needle into the Weevil's bloodstream and the alien fell down on the asphalt road.

"Bloody hell!" the convenience store clerk exclaimed, watching the spectacle.

"Have some coffee," _laced with Retcon_ Ianto offered, holding a cup out. The clerk took the cup and gulped down its contents, immediately slumping to the ground.

"A little faster would have been nice," Jack winced. He limped over to the rest of the team.

"If that stupid clerk over there wouldn't stop shouting at me!" Owen shot back.

Jack rubbed his leg as the bullet fell out and healed itself. "Oh that's disgusting!" the medic declared as the bullets in Jack's arm also fell out.

"A little faster next time and maybe you won't have to watch it," Jack said, receiving the cuffs from Gwen. "Just be glad it wasn't you." The captain restrained the knocked out Weevil and ordered Ianto and Owen to put the alien in the trunk of the SUV. Jack pushed a button on his Bluetooth. "Tosh, anything?"

"No rift activity at all. The Weevil just appeared out of nowhere. Did you catch it?"

"Yeah. We got it. We're on our way back right now. Keep looking."

"Aye aye captain," Tosh said as Jack closed comms.

"Come on guys," Jack said, getting into the driver's seat. "Let's get back."

* * *

A little girl woke up after a horrible nightmare, crying. She was barely five years old. Tomorrow was her birthday. Five years. Half a decade. Her mummy would be so proud of her. So would her daddy. But her mummy and daddy were gone. The sisters told her they'd gone to be with the good Lord. The little girl was happy for her mum and dad, but sad to as why she couldn't have gone with them.

One of the sisters entered into the room. "How are you dear?" she asked, holding the little girl in her arms.

"I'm scared," the green-eyed girl cried.

"Pray and you will feel better," the sister suggested. "Do you want me to pray with you?"

The girl nodded dumbly as she listed off the things she was thankful for and prayed to have a goodnight's sleep. The sister kissed the girl lightly on the forehead and promised to stay until the girl had fallen asleep.

The next day, the sister was dead.

* * *

"So!" Jack said the next day at exactly nine in the morning. "We have Weevils slipping through the rift with no activity. Any suggestions?"

"The world is ending," Owen said.

"The world's always ending. Anyone else?"

"Maybe one of them got loose," Gwen said. "Maybe it was ours."

"Impossible," Ianto said, handing Jack his coffee. Their eyes met briefly before Ianto continued. "They were all there last night before we went out. I checked."

"And the DNA samples don't match the Weevils that we have," Tosh added.

"Worth a shot," Gwen shrugged.

"Long shot," Owen muttered.

Gwen rolled her eyes as her mobile rang. "It's Andy," she informed them.

"Answer, then hang up," Jack told her.

"He might have something useful."

"Right," Owen said. "Because he's going to know where the Weevils are coming from."

"Unless he's got inexplicable evidence of why aliens are crossing the rift without any energy spikes, hang up on him," Jack said, sipping his coffee.

Gwen answered the phone. "My boss wants me to hang up on you unless you've got a good reason why aliens are crossing the rift without any energy readings."

"No, I don't know whatever you just said, but… there's a murder mystery," Andy told her.

"Murder mystery," Gwen informed her boss.

"Tell him we don't do red tape," Jack called.

"He says to tell you that he doesn't do red tape."

"No but wait!" Andy desperately called. "It was a nun. One of the sisters at the St. Teresa Orphanage. She was killed. No weapon or anything. The medics ran tests and there was no poison. She went up to comfort one of the girls in the middle of the night and stayed there after the girl fell asleep. She was dead the next morning."

"Old age?" Gwen proposed.

"She was 24."

Gwen relayed the information back to Jack, who still seemed reluctant. His eyes flickered to Ianto. "Worth checking out," Ianto shrugged.

"Tell Andy we'll be there in fifteen minutes," Jack said, before retreating to his office.

"Fifteen minutes Andy," Gwen repeated and hung up.

Once Ianto and Jack were out of earshot, Owen said, "Typical."

"What?" Gwen asked, pocketing her cell phone.

"Jack doesn't consent until Teaboy over there suggests it."

"Don't listen to him," Tosh told Gwen.

"But what's Ianto got to do with it?" Gwen asked. Tosh and Owen just stared at her. "What?" she asked again.

"You haven't noticed?" Owen inquired.

"Noticed what?"

"Teaboy's gotten field work."

"So?"

"Camera images from Jack's office get deleted on some nights," Tosh said.

"And then," Owen added, "Teaboy's always early on those days. Plus, you should see the way Jack looks at him."

"What?" Gwen demanded.

"Ever since the year that never was."

"What's going on?" Gwen demanded. Owen stared at her expectantly. "No…" Gwen realized. "No way."

"Yep," Owen confirmed. "Jack is-"

"I'm what?" Jack asked, putting on his grey coat and stepping out from his office.

"Out of your mind for going after a case that has police written all over it," Owen said quickly, silently praying that his boss hadn't been eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Could be interesting," Jack shrugged. "Come on. Let's go."

* * *

PC Andy paced impatiently on the gravel road, waiting for that black SUV with "Torchwood" engraved on the side to arrive. Finally, the black car pulled up and out stepped five people. They all wore Bluetooth headsets. If they were all dressed in black and wearing sunglasses, Andy might have thought that he'd just stepped into a MIB movie.

"So, what do you got?" Jack asked the police constable.

* * *

The little girl shivered and muttered incoherent words. The man was here. He was here. But who was he?

* * *

PC Andy led them to the room. The nun had already been removed. "Nothing," Andy stated. "No blood, no fingerprints of anyone that shouldn't have been in here. Cold case."

"Right. So we take on an unsolvable police case," Owen grumbled.

"What's your problem?" Jack snapped.

"Nothing… nothing," the medic muttered.

"OK. So Andy, if you could kindly leave. Some of this is need to know only. Thank you, goodbye." With that, the captain shoved the PC out the door and closed it.

"That was rude," Gwen commented.

"Right so first. Any ideas?"

Tosh took out her PDA and scanned the room. "Trace residual energy," she noted. "Too little for this to have happened last night. Look," she pointed at the wavelengths. "Barely any spikes. It's like something is suppressing it. Even the Hub scanners didn't pick anything up."

"Jack look," Gwen said, reading a book that was found under the girl's pillow. "Sketchbook."

Jack took the leather bound book and studied the first picture. A rainbow, nothing out of the ordinary. He flipped through the ivory pages until he stopped short. The picture was that of a satellite. The interior of a satellite. An interior he knew only too well. He flipped to the next page. Golden spheres on a suit of metal iron. The page next to it depicted a spaceship of an extinct species. As he flipped further and further, he grew more and more scared.

Impossible. Even after all his years fighting aliens and etcetera, he had never encountered this.

"We need to see that girl."

* * *

**Oooh... What's this? A sketchbook with drawings of _________________. --fill in the blank. I think you know!  
BTW, "MIB" = Men in Black just for those who are clueless.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood.  
**


	2. Blaidd Drwg

**Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood although... if anyone would like to wrap them up and send it to me for Christmas, I'd be happy. xD  
Just FYI, I'm going to NYC for the break so I might not update often after a few days. That doesn't mean I've forgotten about this or my wonderfully committed followers!**

**Review, Fave, Alert and etc.  
**

* * *

"We need to see that girl," Jack repeated and opened the door. As he expected, Andy was still there. "Where's the girl?" the captain asked. "The one this room belongs to."

"With one of the sisters. She's scared to death. Keeps muttering in some incoherent language."

"Take me to her," Jack ordered and motioned for his team to follow.

"Why do we need to see her?" Gwen inquired. "What does she have to do with this?"

"I don't know," Jack admitted. "But we're finding out."

They turned the corner and Andy led them to one the lesson rooms in the orphanage. He opened the door and there the girl was, sitting in one of the sisters' lap. "Don't scare her," Andy pleaded and left.

The girl looked at Jack fearfully, as if she knew him from somewhere. "Ma'am," Jack addressed the sister. "Could you please leave? I need to talk to the girl alone."

"Sir, I-"

"Ma'am, please," Gwen interrupted. Reluctantly, the sister left the team alone with the five year old girl.

"It's my birthday today," the girl piped up. She still eyed Jack scarily.

"Happy birthday," Jack smiled.

"Five years old." Jack nodded his head. "One of the mummies went to the Lord last night," she continued.

"Mummies?" Tosh asked.

"She means one of the sisters," Ianto clarified.

"Did she talk to you?" Jack asked, walking up to the girl. He stood one foot away.

"She prayed with me and said she'd stay by side until I fell asleep."

Jack took one more step closer but the girl shrieked. "Don't come near me!" The captain was taken aback. "You're scary."

Captain Jack Harkness had been called many names by many people (and aliens) of different ages, but never "scary" by a five year-old human girl. "How?" he asked.

"I dream about you," she responded, which took everyone by surprise.

"Do you know what this is?" Jack asked, holding up the sketchbook.

"I like to color," the girl simply answered.

Jack knelt down to open up the book and showed her the satellite interior. "Do you know what this is?" he asked.

"Thing up in the sky. In the future."

"And this?" he pointed at the gold armor.

"Bad. They hurt people."

"What's this?" Jack asked, noting the flying saucer.

"UFO!" the girl replied.

"Did you draw these?" Jack questioned. The girl nodded her head. "Do you dream about this?" The girl nodded again.

Jack stood up with a grunt and closed the sketchbook. He turned 180 degrees to rejoin his team before the girl said, "Blaidd drwg." Jack froze solid. "Blaidd drwg," the girl repeated.

Jack turned around. "How do you know that?"

"Blaidd drwg. Did you know the blaidd drwg?" the girl asked before Jack retreated out of the room, scared out of his wits.

* * *

The Torchwood team was gathered around the trunk of the SUV. Jack tapped his foot on the ground worriedly, which caused the entire team to feel uneasy. "What does she mean 'blaidd drwg,'" Tosh finally asked.

"Bad wolf," Ianto answered. "That's what it means."

"There was a nuclear power plant project here a couple of years ago called that," Gwen noted.

"And it never happened did it?" Jack asked. "It was going to be built right on top of the rift."

"Yeah…" Gwen said.

"And then the city mayor disappeared," Jack continued. "And then there was an earthquake."

"That was you?" Owen asked bewildered.

"Partly," Jack answered. "Let me tell you. That mayor was _not_ human."

"So we had an alien mayor bent on ripping the earth apart for three weeks?" Ianto summed up.

"Basically."

"Thrilling."

"But what does she mean when she said it? Blaidd drwg?" Tosh asked again. "She asked if you knew it."

"Not it. Her," Jack corrected.

"There was a person called Blaidd Drwg?" Owen asked.

"No. Not exactly."

"Then what?"

Jack opened up the sketchbook to the satellite interior. "Satellite 5 aka the GameStation." He flipped the page and pointed. "Dalek. Dalek spaceship." He flipped the page again. "Psychotic Dalek emperor. GameStation control center." He flipped to the last page. On the left side was a man standing with his arms out to his side. Three Daleks approached him. On the other side lay the same man, only dead. The last two pictures were different from the earlier ones. All the others were coarsely drawn but these two… In these two, the face of the man was in incredible detail, despite the fact that it was drawn with crude crayons.

The face of the man was too unmistakable.

"Me," Jack said. "Death by extermination."

* * *

**I'm pretty convinced you can tell who _she_ is. Doctor Who refs here and later, so if you don't know, go watch the last two episodes of Series 1 Doctor Who (New Version, not the Classics.)**

**Blaidd drwg means "bad wolf" (a reoccurring theme in DocWho)  
**


	3. Control Her

The entire Torchwood team fell silent. Their mouths hung open at the pictures. Jack and his final stand. Jack dead. And Jack, the immortal Jack, right in front of them. Their memories flashed back to the time when Jack told them the basics of his life story. He was on the GameStation with the Doctor and his former companion Rose. He had died. He had been resurrected and now he would live forever.

"Gwen!" PC Andy cried, running up to the SUV. "Gwen! One of the-" Andy took one look at the little girl's drawing before saying, "Whoa."

Quickly, Jack closed the sketchbook. "What?" he demanded a bit more coldly than he had intended.

"One of the sisters. She keeps talking in Latin, but she wrote that she wants to talk to you."

"Which would be great," Owen began, "except none of us know Latin."

"Do you have to spoil everything Owen?" Gwen demanded. Owen just shrugged.

"Maybe I can," Jack mused. Everyone turned to look at him. "I understand alien languages with a breeze. Why not Latin?" Everyone continued to stare. "Time vortex," he explained, motioning to his head. "TARDIS has got a translation circuit… No?" Jack asked, as he still saw the faces of confusion. "I've got a language translator hardwired into my brain," he finally explained. "Does that make any sense?"

"Barely," Ianto muttered.

"Lead the way PC."

* * *

The nun was an elderly woman. She sat in her room, on an old hickory rocking chair, rocking back and forth, back and forth. She barely glanced up while she muttered the same verse over and over again in Latin. Her hands clutched her rosary beads tightly.

"Do you know what she's saying?" PC Andy asked.

"In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum," the nun continued to repeat.

"Into your hands I entrust my spirit," Jack translated. "Luke 23:46. Ianto! Get a Bible and look it up!"

"Ma'am," Jack said in Latin. The words came unusually easy to his American-accented tongue. "What do you want to talk to us about?" The woman muttered almost inaudibly, her face deathly pale.

"Jack, what is she saying?" Tosh asked.

"Something about the girl…" Jack strained his ears. "That she came out of nowhere. They found her in the streets, wandering. They brought her back here, gave her a home, but ever since then strange things have been happening." Jack paused before asking, in Latin, "How long has this been happening?"

The woman muttered a number. "Two years," Jack told them.

"Luke 23:46: And crying with a loud voice, Jesus said, Father, into Your hands commit My spirit. And saying this, He expired," Ianto read.

The woman began to speak again, her voice growing louder until it was a cry. She clutched Jack's coat tightly, her knuckles turning white. "What is she saying Jack?" Gwen asked fearfully.

"I warned them," Jack relayed. "I warned them. I told them it wasn't a good idea. That child is a demon. Darkness follows her wherever she goes. When she first came, one of the sisters disappeared any now Grace… But did you see anything?" Jack pressed. "That night when the girl woke up, what did you see?" The woman shook her head.

"Ask her about the girl's name," Owen told the captain. "We're investigating a little girl and we don't even know her name."

Jack asked Owen's question and the nun looked Jack in the eyes. She began to explain the story behind the girl's name. "She didn't have a name when they found her," Jack told them. "So they named her Maria."

"After the Virgin Mary," Ianto reasoned.

"Yeah."

"So…" Owen clapped his hands together. "Recap shall we? We've got (a) Weevils running around town with no rift activity, (b) a girl named Maria who knows about some part of Jack's past and (c) we have no idea why. On top of that, (d) this woman over here thinks Maria's a demon and (e) we have no idea how to dissect this."

Jack stood up and pointed at his medic. "One," he began, "That's my line. Two, we _do_ know how to dissect this, just not yet and three, just because you're a doctor does not give you the permission to use words such as 'dissect' in your sentences. Come on guys. Back to the Hub." As they walked down the hallway, Jack gave out his orders. "Tosh and Gwen, I want a full history on this orphanage and everyone who was ever employed here. Owen, we're going to get the body of the sister back. Run scans, test blood. X-rays and whatever you can think of. An autopsy if you have to. Ianto and I will see if we can dig up anything on his Maria girl. Clear?"

"What about me?" the PC asked. Jack had almost forgotten he was there.

"You know Gwen's number. Keep us posted."

* * *

They were barely through the cog door before Tosh was on the computer. She typed away in frenzy. "What about this blaidd drwg person? Do we have to search her?" the Japanese woman asked.

"No," Jack told her, hanging up his jacket. "She wouldn't have anything to do with it. She's gone."

"Who is she?"

"Rose," Jack said simply. "The only thing you'll find is that all her records are wiped. The only thing left his her date of birth and supposed death at Canary Wharf. Owen, set up the scans. Come on Ianto."

"I don't think he likes this," Gwen commented, typing on the computer opposite of Toshiko's. She had made sure that Jack and Ianto had entered the boardroom before speaking.

"Likes what?" Tosh asked, glancing momentarily at her keyboard.

"This. His past coming back up. He hates it."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because," Owen started, preparing to make a snarky comment as he draped his medic coat over his shoulders, "he-"

"Shut it Owen," Gwen immediately cut off.

"Whatever," and the medic disappeared down to his autopsy bay.

"Maybe it reminds him of the people he lost and the people he _will_ lose," proposed Toshiko. She looked up at the boardroom where Jack and Ianto were. "I think he wishes he could stay dead."

* * *

Jack sat down in his designated chair in the boardroom with a grunt. He ran his hair through his hands hurriedly. Perspiration was wetting his brow. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up at Ianto's comforting smile. The promoted archivist pulled up a chair next to Jack and started to type on the wireless keyboard. Cached files of the orphanage pulled up and Ianto surveyed them.

"Everything at the orphanage is mostly manual filing. There're not a lot of records online," Ianto informed Jack. "Do you want me to search disappearances, local stories around the time of when she was found?"

Jack didn't reply and just rested his head on Ianto's shoulder. The man kept on typing, silently noting that he was doing most – _all _– of the work. Jack closed his eyes and spoke. "How are your parents Ianto?" Where did that question come from? Concern or curiosity?

"Doing fine. My sister visits them sometimes. They live out in the country."

"Do you see them often?"

"Christmas and New Year's sir."

"Jack," the captain corrected.

"… Jack."

"Do you have any other family living here?"

"A have a couple of cousins scattered around Wales. Some relatives in Scotland. Rhiannon, my sister, lives in Cardiff."

"Do you visit them?"

"Not really," Ianto admitted. "I kind of drifted away after Canary Wharf. They don't question it anymore. I have a cousin who calls me during the holidays. Wishes me a happy Christmas and then hangs up. And you sir? How was your family?"

Jack didn't reply and Ianto knew that he'd ventured too far. "Sorry," he immediately apologized.

"I don't remember," Jack admitted. "Not the details. It's been too long. Sometimes I wish… Never mind," Jack dismissed and looked up at the screen. "Got anything?"

"2006. Police reported Maria alone in the streets. Orphanage took her in and all that leads up to what we have today. Except look." Ianto brought up an image of the girl, different from the newspaper article displayed on the screen. "All the way across in America there was a couple who had lost their daughter. Name undisclosed but the image they sent out should have been a perfect match for the police here."

"I remember that," Jack said, leaning his head off of Ianto's shoulder. He studied the photograph more intently. "It was all over news."

"So the police should have linked it. The American FBI was all over the case. Let me cross-reference the pictures," Ianto offered. A few other screens pulled up, one including software for face recognition. It could age the current picture and make it younger. In this case, it went through a random loop, aging and de-aging until Jack ordered Ianto to stop.

"I've seen those green eyes before," Jack whispered. Ianto went back to the previous image. Green eyes with distinct black pupils stared back at the captain. The software didn't change hair styles, just facial features. Wrinkles, liver spots, face shape and so on, but Jack didn't need the hair. He could see it in her eyes. Her eyes and her skinny face.

"The Controller," he breathed.

* * *

**Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Anyone who suspected the Controller, you're right. Of course, I kind of just almost gave away the rest of the story.**

**Thanks to everyone who followed this far!  
**


	4. Part of Me No One Will Ever See

**For those who've been saying Jack's more open, I'm confirming that. I wanted to write a fic where Jack was more of a "normal" guy socially/emotionally. ---ish.**

**BTW, vacationing tomorrow. Will be on hiatus for at least two weeks.  
Please don't leave!

* * *

**Jack grumbled as he walked down the stairs to the main floor. "No, no no," he murmured. "That's impossible. She can't be- not like that. It's…"

"What?" Tosh asked, looking up from her screen.

"Owen!" Jack called. "Find anything?"

"No cause of death found," Owen reported, coming up from his autopsy bay. "Ran it through all the scans, did the autopsy, but… I just ran it through Tosh's residual energy scan."

"And?"

"Massive levels, but our scanners didn't even pick it up."

"It's like someone's using the rift to cover it up," Gwen said.

"Or they cover it up until they're out of harm's way," Ianto amended.

Jack simply ran his hand through his head. He reached into his pocket for his mobile and called the first number on his speed dial. The line on the other end rang four times before going dead. "Damn it!" Jack cursed, shoving the phone back into his pocket. "Every time!"

"Who did you call?" Toshiko asked.

"The Doctor."

"Why?" The team all had their suspicions. None of them made Jack look like a promise-keeper.

"That girl," Jack began. "Ianto just ran her photograph through the cross-reference face recognition program."

"And?" Gwen prompted.

"I've seen her before. Older, in the past. Well, past for my timeline."

"So you've seen her future self," Owen concluded. "That's not much of a big deal considering your time traveling ways." The medic took a sip from his leftover coffee.

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "But I saw her in the year 200, 000."

"You're sure?" Tosh asked with her eyebrows raised.

"Positive. I'd never forget that face."

"So why would one of sisters turn up dead the next morning?" Gwen inquired.

"I have no idea."

"Massive rift activity on the body?" Owen added.

"No clue."

"So basically…" Owen trailed off. "We have a cold case."

"Setting aside what can't be explained," Jack started. "What _do_ we know?"

"Weevils with no rift activity," Ianto said.

"OK. What else?"

"Body," Owen chipped in.

"A girl from the 201st century," Gwen said.

"Which we don't even know if it really is her," Jack said, "But if it is…"

"Then she could be pulling things out of the rift. Using the energy for all these events," Tosh reasoned.

"Who is this Maria girl to you anyway?" Owen asked, crossing his arms.

"I knew her as the Controller, on the GameStation, with the Doctor. Back when I was mortal. She was basically this computer. Hooked up when she was five years old. Back then, we didn't know what was going on. We thought Rose was dead and the Doctor was ready to blow a hole in the satellite. The control center, Floor 500, that's where the Controller was.

"Usually, she controls the game hence the title, but she was being controlled by something else. They could hear us apparently, the Daleks. We got everything almost worked out and just needed to find exactly was out there. She starts spewing out this code and I'm at the controls typing for my life when she just disappears."

"How?" Gwen asked.

"Transmat. They took her. The Daleks took her."

"What happened to her?"

"Exterminated," Jack said. "Most likely."

"They just killed her?" Tosh deadpanned.

"Yeah." Jack glanced at his vortex manipulator which luckily doubled as a watch. "It's one already. Go out and get some lunch." No one moved. "Go on," he coaxed and retreated to his office, leaving his grey coat barely hanging

* * *

Jack's team was too shaken up the captain's story to even enjoy a nice time out for lunch. Gwen went home to Rhys and had a home lunch with him while Owen hit another bar which left Tosh alone since Ianto mysteriously "disappeared."

Ianto quietly made his way into the captain's office. Jack looked up and looked back down. "Jack…" the man said softly. He sat down on the immortal man's desk. Jack looked up again, this time his gaze lingering for a bit longer.

Jack made the first move as Ianto felt his throat constrict and cold lips crash into his. Ianto backed up against the glass wall as his boss, who was now also his lover, stood up. Both broke away to breathe before resuming the frenzy of kisses.

"What if they come back?" Ianto voiced his worry.

"Don't think about that," Jack urged as he pressed Ianto against the wall again.

They continued to kiss, breaking away only to take in air. Ianto could feel Jack getting less and less confident before the captain finally broke away and slumped against the desk. "I'm sorry…" he mumbled.

Ianto carefully sat down next to Jack. "Captain Jack Harkness apologizing for no reason?" he gasped sarcastically. "Never thought I would live to see the day. What are you apologizing for this time?"

Jack didn't reply and simply held Ianto to his chest. "All those people," Jack whispered into the Welshman's brown hair. "I could have saved them."

Ianto wrapped his arms around Jack's waist and breathed. This wasn't the first time that the man had been in this conversation. Ever since they came back from _there_, Jack had gone through periods of depression and low self-esteem. "You did Jack."

"But I could have saved them before!" Jack cried. "Before hell on earth! I had the power. Why didn't I?"

"They're alive now," Ianto pointed out.

"And all the others before! I could have helped them. Like the Controller…" Jack clutched Ianto even tighter. "I don't want to lose you," he whispered fearfully.

Ianto's heart skipped a beat. Was this the same Jack Harkness that had rejected him when he first asked for a job at Torchwood Three? Was this the same Jack Harkness that had killed his girlfriend? Was this the same Jack Harkness that had immediately felt the Welshman's pain and tried to console him? Was this the same man that survived an imaginary year of torture, scowling at this daily executioner?

No. It wasn't.

This was the man that Ianto Jones had fallen in love with, even after Lisa's death.

Ianto had opened up the very bottom of Jack's heart. Something no one had ever seen before. This captain clutching him wasn't the brave man with the cheeky smile. It was the human captain that was just like any other person in the world. Scared, wearing mask and playing life's game.

The archivist didn't protest when Jack fell asleep in his arms. Thirty minutes later, the team came back quietly. Tosh stopped first and motioned to the sleeping couple, deciding they should all turn back. The Japanese woman, along with Gwen, aided the drunken Owen Harper back through the cog door. The medic wobbled around and protested with slurred speech. He must have drunk a lot in order to feel that bad.

* * *

**Oh look. Our favorite captain boy has depression, well sort of.  
And just an FYI, no sex scenes between Jack and Ianto. As much as I love that pairing, I can't seem to do those without grimacing or cracking up. Sorry!**


	5. Hollywood Drama

Jack woke up the next morning, feeling as if he'd just come back from being dead minus the shattered glass feeling. He'd never slept so peacefully in his entire life and that, considering that was over 100 years, was a pretty accomplished feat. He didn't dream at all. Then again, his dreams weren't really dreams. They were more like memories that flashed before his eyes.

He felt someone holding his hand and smiled at the sleeping Welshman. They had both fallen asleep in front of the captain's desk. Jack wondered where the rest of his team was before realizing they probably went home after their lunch break.

Jack checked the time and mentally noted that his medic, techie and operative would probably be here in minute now. Time for a wakeup call. He chuckled mentally as he leaned over to peck Ianto softly on the lips. In time, it evolved into a full kiss.

"Good morning," Jack said with flirtatious smile. Ianto let out a groan as he stretched his slightly atrophied body.

"Time?" he asked.

"Almost nine in the morning. We've slept more than half a day."

"Come back to bed…"

"There is no bed Yan."

"Don't call me that."

"Only if you don't call me 'Sir.'"

"Wouldn't dream of it… Sir."

Just then, the sound of the cog door opening rang throughout the entire Hub. In a flash, Ianto was up and brushing his suit, trying to smooth out the crease.

"Good morning!" Tosh greeted with her usual happy smile. Owen just scowled while Tosh gave him a hard smack on his arm. Gwen simply grinned and waved to Ianto and Jack.

"This is embarrassing," Ianto muttered.

"Is it?" Jack replied and opened the doors. "Gwen, any word from your PC friend?"

"No not really. They've officially closed the case," Gwen told the team. "Said they found a stash of alcohol in the woman's room."

"Nice cover up," Jack complimented. "Kudos Gwen. Rift activity?" He looked at Tosh who pulled up the recent monitors for the rift.

"Um…" she said. "Not much. Small spikes, but that's about it. The normal stuff." The woman squinted at the screen. "Wait." Jack walked over to the computer as Toshiko zoomed in on the graphs. There was a small duvet in the line.

"Just a negative spike," Jack said. "They're always there."

"But only an aftershock," Tosh pointed out. "There're no positive readings."

"Which means whoever's doing it could possibly be covering it up with some alien tech," Owen proposed.

"No," Jack disagreed. "That would mean the tech would have to emit its own energy. To cover that up, you'd need more tech which would send out another signal and so on."

"So what you're saying is…"

"Someone's controlling the rift."

"But that's impossible," Gwen said.

"We fight aliens and you say that's impossible."

"A little girl is controlling the rift," Gwen said, staring right at her boss.

"We haven't established that it's her yet."

"But if she knows all that stuff then-" Gwen was cut off by the sound of her mobile ringing. She answered it and her eyes grew wide. "We'll be there," she said and hung up. Looking at the rest of the team, she told them, "It's Andy. He says the orphanage disappeared."

* * *

Owen tapped incessantly on the window. Even after periods of brief quarrels and sarcastically angelic pleads for him to stop, the doctor persisted and glowered under his breath every so often. Tosh even slapped him on the arm a few times and attempted to pry his hand away from the glass. "Why do we have to go visit an orphanage?" he murmured.

"Because it's disappeared _Owen_," Gwen shot back.

"Owen, are you hung-over?" Jack asked, his tone border lining between threat and cold-blooded murder.

"Me?" Owen asked innocently. "Hung-over? No way."

"Owen," the captain said sternly.

"What is wrong with you?" Tosh snapped.

"You know!" Owen snapped back.

Jack glanced in the rearview mirror while Gwen just muttered at the captain to ignore the sulking medic. "What is it?" Jack insisted, although his tone showed that he really didn't want to know anymore.

Owen sighed and just crossed his arms. Instead, Tosh leaned forward and whispered into the driver's seat. Jack immediately stiffened and gripped the wheel tightly. In a matter of moments, he slammed the brakes. The road was out almost in the country. A ten second stop wouldn't do any harm. "Owen," Jack began venomously, looking at the rearview mirror. "You are _so_ lucky that I employed you." With that, Jack accelerated again and didn't speak the rest of the way.

* * *

There was an orphanage? Since when was there an orphanage? What was an orphanage? The green-eyed blonde called Maria was being questioned repeatedly, albeit nicely, by the police. She was the only one left. A wandering passerby had drove past, seeing the little girl there. The bystander had immediately called the police who arrived on sight in a matter of minutes.

Just then, that black SUV pulled up again. Twice in less than a week. That was a new record. PC Andy Davidson waited for the captain to approach him before gesturing. "Gone," he said simply.

"As we can see," Jack nodded stiffly. "Details?"

"Jack, massive readings," Tosh warned.

"Standard passerby sees the girl scenario," Andy explained.

"That's standard?" Jack raised his eyebrows.

"Well you know. Like in the movies."

"You watch too much TV," Jack told the police constable, repeating the words the Doctor and told Martha when the three of them hid away under the ground. Jack strolled out into the open to survey the ground the orphanage had previously stood on. "And the people?"

"Gone," Andy replied. "Just the girl left."

"This doesn't make any sense," Jack muttered. His team stiffened up. When Jack was in the dark about something this far into the case, it wasn't good news. He'd never been like that. He'd always had some crazy idea or plan that eventually got them through.

Suddenly, they could hear a couple of screams from the other officers on sight. Jack turned his head around and saw figures in the far distance. Two in fact. Human shaped. Once they got closer, Torchwood could see that this wasn't the case. Weevils. Standard Weevil behavior, appearing out of nowhere because of the rift. But then again, the rift didn't stretch this far.

"Jack!" Tosh cried as she calibrated her PDA. "Off the scale energy levels!"

"How off?"

"Enough for me to not even comprehend," Tosh answered. This was considered a big feat. There wasn't a lot that Tosh couldn't comprehend.

"OK," Jack clapped his hands together. "Standard procedure. You know the drill."

Swiftly, the trunk to the black Torchwood SUV flew open. The sound of six buckles from three separate cases could be heard. This time Owen actually had a universal sedative at hand. He broke of the safety tip and checked to see if the hypodermic needle worked properly. A little liquid flowed over the top and Owen nodded his head contently.

It took them no less than five minutes flat to subdue both aliens. Taking them back wouldn't be too hard. Their main problem now, on top of their current case, was how to Retcon six police officers. Quietly, Ianto slipped a packet of amnesia pills that had been grounded up into a powdered form. He surreptitiously slipped it into the open coffee container that the PCs were all pouring from.

"As long as they all drink from that, they _should_ all forget," Ianto told Jack quietly. Jack nodded in response and held Andy back as the rest of the police force thought that perhaps a little caffeine could calm their nerves. Slowly, they began to lean against their squad cars and fall asleep.

"What did you do?" Andy asked.

"Retcon mate," Owen told the PC. He zipped up his medical kit and placed it back into one of the boxes. "Can't have anyone remembering. Except you, unfortunately."

In the back of the squad car, the girl, Maria, was whispering hurriedly and quietly. She repeated the same thing over and over again. It was a sequence of some sort of code. From their distance, the Torchwood team couldn't hear her mumblings. "How long has she been doing that?" Jack asked, pointing.

"Ever since we got here. We couldn't get a word out of her but that," Andy told the captain. "No idea what it means."

Jack knelt down in front of the open squad car door. "Do you know me?" he asked. Maria continued to mutter. "Do you remember me?" No reply. "Blaidd drwg?" the immortal captain tried. Still, the girl showed no verbal response. She did, however, turn her head to look at him. "Maria," Jack said firmly. "Do you remember me?" Still nothing. "What are you saying?"

The girl raised her voice by just the slightest decibel so that Jack could figure out just what exactly she was uttering. "Five point… four three four… -even. Five point six… one point… sig- even. Five point six point one point four three four sigma seven seven seven." The code was broken at first but soon the captain made out what she was saying.

He knew that code. He knew that code very well. In fact, he had typed it into the systems. It had very much saved his life, indirectly. It saved Rose's life more importantly. Rose and the Doctor, before he regenerated.

5 . 6 . 1 . 434 . Σ777

Drawing in a shuddering breath, Jack asked his final question. "Are you the Controller?"

Maria merely stared into the captain's eyes, mumbling the code. But those eyes. There was something in those eyes the tipped Jack off. There was no atrophy in them. She hadn't been hooked up yet. That meant… that the Controller-

And that revelation was what hurt Jack the most.

* * *

**So here it is! Chapter 5! I'll be uploading a chapter a day. The fanfic's almost finished so...**

**Who else saw the End of Time on Doctor Who? And who else was pissed that Jack moved on so quickly? -raises hand- Alonso has funny ears. *pouts*  
Anyway, if so... Visit here: **http://www. fanfiction .net/s/5635001/1/Hangover

**(Without the spaces)**


	6. On Our Own

**I'll be updating daily from now on since I've finished the fic! Yay!!! So anyway -ahem-, I'm starting my own little version of Torchwood series 4. And if you hate spoilers, don't look at the bottom of the page for the one thing I can guarantee you... Also, last chapter of this fic has a slight xover with Doctor Who series 4 with Donna. Just an FYI**

**Enjoy!

* * *

**After a long fight with PC Andy, Jack finally persuaded him to give Torchwood custody of the child. That was, of course, after long periods of flashing Torchwood badges and reluctant coaxing from Gwen. She had never seen her boss so worked up before. This flash from his past must have really worked him up.

Then there was the issue of not having enough space in the SUV. That was when Andy had enough. He refused to lend him a squad car. A very pissed Jack had Owen call up a cab instead. "Gwen, you ride with Maria," Jack ordered, "See if she says anything else. Everyone else, with me."

Gwen climbed into the cab with the five year-old girl and told the taxi driver to let them off at the Millennium Center. The former police constable mentally noted that Jack owed her a little more on her next paycheck for paying the cabbie. Throughout the whole ride, she tried to make small talk with Maria, but the girl simply stared into space. Gwen almost had to pull her out of the cab.

"Come here," Gwen said, leading Maria along to the invisible lift. The slab of concrete descended underground and Gwen soon saw the Torchwood team watching her come down.

"So…" Jack prompted.

"Nothing," Gwen said, looking at the girl. "She said nothing the whole time."

"Scary," Maria pointed at the captain. Owen snorted but stopped when Jack shot him a glare that was filled with fear.

"What are we going to do?" Tosh asked.

"Well, we can't keep her in the vaults," Jack decided. "Get that spare room in the back proper for her Ianto."

"Yes sir," the Welshman replied and went off on his assignment.

Jack knelt down in front of Maria. "Are you her?" he asked before leaving.

* * *

It was six in the evening. Jack had nothing to do because, well… he couldn't _think_ of anything to do. He was clueless. Rift patterns returned to normal which almost destroyed the link between Maria and those incidents. Nothing else unusual happened. For now, everything was a little too peaceful for a typical Torchwood day.

Ianto watched from a distance as Jack redialed the same number over and over again on the phone, only to sigh in exasperation. The impossibility of the case was bothering Jack, but something else was bothering the archivist.

Slowly, Ianto made his way over to Jack's office. "Jack?" he asked, slowly sneaking into the office. Jack looked up and tried to plaster a smile on his face. It didn't work to well as Ianto saw right through it. "What did Tosh tell you? When we were driving to the orphanage? Why Owen was angry"

"He was hung-over," Jack lied.

"Then he wouldn't even be on the case today," Ianto countered and strolled to Jack's desk. He placed his palms on the sturdy wood and looked Jack in the eye. "What did Tosh say?"

Jack saw that there would be no getting out of this one, no matter how hard he tried. "Owen thinks the reason you're out in the field is because you're shagging me."

Ianto's face flickered with hurt for a moment. Jack looked on in sympathy and reached out for the other man's hand. "Which is partly true," Jack continued, coming around the desk, "because I want you by my side." Jack pulled Ianto in for a tight embrace. "Don't listen to Owen. He's just being… well, Owen."

Ianto stayed silent and wrapped his arms around Jack. The two of them could have stayed like that forever if it wasn't for the ringing mobile on Jack's desk. The captain glanced over at the caller ID and immediately picked up.

"I've been calling all evening!" Jack accused to the person on the other side of the phone, who was most probably on the other side of the universe and time.

"Sorry. Little trouble with the Ood. Actually, still in it right now. Is something wrong?" the man on the other side asked.

"Why else would I call you?"

"True. Donna watch out!" the Doctor cried to his new companion. "What?" the Doctor asked Jack.

"The Rift…" Jack began but he heard a melancholy song at the other end. "Doctor, what's that song?"

"Well, I sort of locked in a cage with a bunch of Ood right now. Make it quick Captain."

"The Rift. No readings at all but stuff just pops up all around town."

"Nothing Torchwood Cardiff can't handle. You lot were at the end of the world."

"But Doctor," Jack persisted. "We've linked a little girl to it."

"So?"

"Her eyes. There're like…" Jack found that we couldn't go on anymore. "I'd know that face anywhere. She saved Rose."

"Who?" the Doctor asked. "For the universe's sake Captain, get to the point- oh…" The Time Lord realized what his immortal friend was indicating. "Can't be. How old is she?"

"Five."

"No…"

"What do I do?"

"I wish I could help you Captain, but Donna and I are kind of stuck here."

"You've got the TARDIS."

"Jack. I can't take care of every problem for you. Just know that one way or another that fixed point in time as to be there. No matter how much it hurts, Jack, she _has_ to be there."

"I can't just send her to her death!"

"Welcome to my life." With that, the Doctor dropped the call, leaving Jack at the same point he had started from when the evening began.

Ianto looked at his lover expectantly. "We're on our own," Jack sighed and threw the mobile back onto his desk. Stepping out into the main Torchwood area, he said, "Owen, full medical report on the girl. Gwen, go with Owen and see if you can get a word out of her. Take this with you." The captain tossed the sketchbook.

"Coffee, Teaboy," Owen said.

"He's not the Teaboy," Jack snapped, "But just get him some coffee before he gets even more annoying than he already is."

"Yes sir," Ianto replied and disappeared to the coffee machine.

"Tosh! Any luck?"

"No," she replied sadly. "I'm analyzing the spikes now."

"Check both American and English government agencies for anything regarding her."

"American?" Tosh questioned. Jack quickly pulled up the page that he and Ianto had discovered about the FBI case. Tosh nodded in understanding. "But she has a Cardiff accent."

"And we fight aliens every day. Disregard the accent. If anything links tell me."

Tosh nodded and continued to type as Jack wandered over to the medical wing. He leaned against the railing as Owen and Gwen came in with Maria. "We're just going to do some tests," Owen said in an angelic voice. Jack almost laughed at how fake it sounded. Owen glared at his boss before directing his attention back to Maria. "This is Gwen," he introduced. "She'll hold your hand if you need it."

The little girl nodded and looked back at Jack Harkness. She tilted her head in question and then looked at the doctor again. Owen was holding a hypodermic. Maria shook her head slightly, as if objecting to being poked at. Owen rubbed some iodine on the girl's arm as Gwen comforted her. "It will only be for a second," she said.

"When did I become a pediatrician?" grumbled Owen and carefully inserted the needle into Maria's bloodstream. Maria closed her eyes shut tightly.

"You can open your eyes now," Gwen told Maria in a motherly sort of way. Owen was capping the syringe with the girl's blood and setting it on a tray.

"You've been to the doctor's before?" Owen asked. Maria nodded. "I'm just going to check your ears, nose and eyes. Is that OK?" Maria nodded again and Owen began his procedures.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," the doctor informed his boss as he took out another instrument. In his hand, he held a small hammer-like tool. "This is going to test your knee jerk reflex," Owen told the girl. "I'm going to hit you slightly on your knee. Just stay still OK?" Maria nodded again, refusing to speak.

Owen let the hammer tap slightly on the girl's left knee. No reflex. "Is that bad?" Gwen asked.

"No. Only if she jerks her other knee." Owen proceeded to tap the right knee. This time, there was a response. Owen furrowed his brow. "I'm going to do this again, OK Maria? If you need to kick, don't hold back alright?" Maria nodded and Owen repeated the test, only getting the same results.

"What does it mean?" Jack asked.

"Neural or nervous damage. Electrical signals aren't going to her brain." Owen put up the tendon hammer. "Usually you're supposed to get the same reaction on both sides. Both kick means the electrical signals go to your brain. A negative means that the signals aren't getting there, but that just means you don't have that strong of an electricity flow to your body. Right now, it means that the left side of her brain is negative."

"Left side?" Gwen asked.

"Your nerves cross over. Left brain controls the right side of your body and vice versa. Where's that coffee?"

"You're in the middle of an examination Owen," Jack scolded just as Ianto appeared.

The archivist handed a folder to Jack and the coffee mug to Owen. "Tosh told me to give you that," Ianto said, talking to Jack. The captain nodded contently as he flipped through its contents. In it was a complete history of the girl in America, named Mary oddly enough, and Maria of Cardiff. "She also said that the Rift analysis might take a while."

Jack nodded and directed his attention to Owen and his five year-old patient. "So…" Ianto said, gesturing at Maria.

"Vitals look good. Blood test is running but apparently she's got nerve damage," Owen filled him in. He was about to crack another sarcastic statement but thought better of it under Jack's slightly glaring face. Had he not forgiven him about earlier? "We might have to test psychological. See if she's been in any trauma etcetera. And rift activity, if she's linked to the incidents across town."

"What have you got there?" Gwen asked, indicating the folder.

Jack gave them a look that seemed to say, _not in front of Maria_. They looked back in understanding and the question dropped at that.

Just then, Tosh called to her boss. "Jack!" she cried as the captain made his way over. "So I cleared up the scanners. It turns out there was an interference with the machines."

"What sort of interference?"

"Like a transmission. The Hub automatically accepted it and it canceled out the scanner for just long enough before the 'aftershock.'"

"Can we trace it?"

"Unknown source."

Jack's shoulders drooped in frustration. "Boardroom in five," he ordered.

* * *

They sat around the table in silence for what seemed like years before Jack came up and slapped the file on the table. No one moved as Jack sat down. Letting out a grunt, he motioned at the file. "Go on," he offered. "Dissect it. Tell me what _you_ think."

Reluctantly, Gwen made the first move and took a paper out of the file. The rest of her team members followed suit, switching papers after they were done reading them. Jack started on passively, interested on what his team had to say when they were finished. If he guessed right, they had nothing to say. Nothing that they felt wouldn't hurt the situation.

He was right. Owen placed the last paper back into the file and even took the time to neatly straighten the papers. No one met Jack's gaze.

"So?" their boss prompted.

Still no one spoke.

"As I thought," Jack told them and then stood up. "Sleep on it," he ordered them. "This ends tomorrow."

With that he waved at the door. They were all anxious to escape Jack's presence, but Ianto stayed behind, knowing it was only right.

"You can go home if you want to Ianto," Jack said softly. _No stay please. Please stay. I need someone. I need you_. But Jack knew that he had to be selfless at times as well. He was a fixed point, but that didn't meant the world just had to revolve around him.

Ianto shook his head, as if reading Jack's mind. The captain wondered if maybe that was a possibility. Torchwood One employees had to have demonstrated a certain amount of telepathic ability and when they joined, they had to receive more training on it. "You need me here," the younger man said, taking Jack's hand.

Jack nodded subtly, leading Ianto to his office and the bed that lay in the adjourning room. There was none of the usual "fun" tonight. Ianto knew that Jack just wanted to rest. All the immortal needed that night was someone to hold him and listen to his heartbeat. And all Ianto needed was the same exact thing.

* * *

**Spoiler for my upcoming fanfic: You have been warned!**

**|  
V**

**Ianto is totally coming back in a mysterious way, because I can't live with emo Jack.  
**


	7. I Know

Jack wished that morning never came. He didn't want to face his dilemma, but running away would just make him look like a coward, and ever since the Doctor had changed him, a coward he was not. But the cog wheel slid open and Jack heard slow footsteps that told him the rest of the team didn't want to be here either. Sighing, he just held Ianto tighter and pretended to sleep until the Welshman woke up.

"I know you're not sleeping Jack," Ianto whispered after a while. Jack was becoming more and more convinced that Ianto was a mind reader.

"I know," Jack replied, not opening his eyes.

"They're waiting outside."

"I know."

"We shouldn't keep them waiting."

"I know."

"Can you say anything past two words?"

"I don't know." Jack smiled at his own attempt at humor. He felt soft lips on his as Ianto pecked him gently.

"I'm here for you," Ianto reassured. What was that in his voice? Afraid of being rejected?

"I know," Jack opened his eyes. "I know." He forced a weak smile and stood himself up, reaching out his hand to help Ianto up.

Jack lingered as he brushed his teeth and washed his face while Ianto waited with Gwen, Tosh and Owen. When their leader finally came out, they immediately noticed that for the first time, Jack's face seemed as old as his age. On top of that, it looked so much like the Doctor's stricken face on the _Valiant_. Even today, Owen didn't utter anything sarcastic. He hadn't even talked since he went to bed last night.

Jack stared at the blank spot on the wall, not meeting any of their gazes. He was pretty sure that they'd flinch when he did anyway. "We," Tosh began, wiling her voice to be strong, "We'll stand by whatever you choose to do."

And they all knew what he had to do.

"If I don't come out of the room in one minute," Jack told them, "don't come and get me." With that, he turned on his heel and disappeared.

**

* * *

**Maria sat in the cell, unmoving. She didn't sleep at all last night. She was just sitting. Sitting and waiting.

For that man.

Scary.

Man.

He finally appeared, but this time he looked extremely sad. The doorknob turned and that great big coat filled the doorway. Slowly, he closed it after he stepped in. This odd man stared at her for so long, just studying her. It made Maria very uneasy.

"My name is Captain Jack Harkness," he introduced himself.

"Hello Mr. Harkness," the girl greeted politely albeit shakily.

The man knelt down. "I know who you are."

"My name?"

"You told that to me," Jack pointed out.

"Why are you in my dreams?" she asked, scared.

"I don't think you'll understand," Jack said. "But what you'll have to understand is that-"

"I want to know!" the girl pouted. "I want to know! I want to!!"

Jack was taken aback by her outburst. "Do you really?" he whispered. It was barely audible and the CCTV cameras in the room certainly didn't pick them up. The rest of his team that was eavesdropping on him had no idea what he'd just uttered.

At that moment, as if his team's thoughts reverberated through the Hub, Jack glanced up at the cameras. With another press of another button on his wrist strap, the camera shut off. His team did not protest. They all knew why. This was his pain. There was no use to share it with them.

"Do you really?" Jack repeated. Maria nodded and Jack breathed in deeply. He placed his hands on the girl's temples and hoped that this wasn't going too far.

Using the power of the time vortex, which made the TARDIS telepathic, Jack showed Maria his past on the GameStation also known as Satellite Five. He showed her Rose, the Doctor and himself. He showed her the code and the woman connected to the computers. He showed her the war and how the Controller had disappeared. He showed her everything he knew about that event.

When Jack finally broke away, Maria was still. Oh please. She couldn't have died. Please let her still be alive.

"So I save the scary man?" Maria asked herself.

Jack laughed that he was still the "scary man." He was relieved the information wasn't too much for Maria and impressed that she made the connections so quickly.

The rift, it must have been the rift speaking through her… connected to her. That explained all the incidents, starting with the random Weevils. The rift had something to tell Jack. Maria had to go, whether he liked it or not. That one action would set of so many other actions that would lead up to here and now. This point in time.

Damn all that timey wimey stuff. But this is what happens when you get caught up with the Doctor and his time.

"Yes you do," Jack finally answered.

"OK," she said. Jack was visibly surprised. "Because Mr. Harkness loves Cardiff and the earth and I love it too. Flowers and dogs and the creeks. It's pretty, so I have to save it too." Jack smiled at the girl's innocence.

Suddenly, the vaults started to convulse. "What the…?" Jack muttered.

"Jack!" came Gwen's panicked cry on the speakers. "The Rift's critical! I don't know what's happening. It's just gone mad!"

"It's starting to open!" Owen alerted in the background.

But Jack knew. It was a warning and his only chance to set the course of history. What was it the Doctor had said when he reset the captain's vortex manipulator? _Twice, second time to apologize._

Two teleports and that was it.

Jack set the controls on his wrist strap and held out his hand for the little girl's. She reached out tentatively and placed her hand on the teleport device. In a blue flash, they were gone and outside on the Plass.

"Jack!" Gwen's voice rang throughout the vaults.

"Gwen!" Tosh cut off and pointed to the CCTV images from outside the Hub. Jack and Maria and the blue glow of the volatile rift.

"Do you trust me?" Jack asked Maria.

"Yes sir!" she chirped and let go of his hand. "I'm off to save the world!"

Jack nodded and just smiled as she walked into the Rift and faded away. "Yes you are," he said. "Yes you are."

And then it was over with just another push of a button.

* * *

The shaking stopped as the Rift settled down and a blue light appeared in the room. Jack coughed and fell dizzily on a chair. "Remind me to never use that again," he choked out. Ianto, Tosh, Owen and Gwen stared on worriedly.

Ianto took a step closer. "Are you…"

"I'm fine," Jack assured them. "She's accepted it too. I'm fine. Really." Jack smiled to assure Ianto even more, knowing he wasn't convinced. "Really," he added, just for Ianto.

Jack clapped his hands together and flashed his Harkness grin. "Productive workday," he declared. "Take the time off."

* * *

**Last chapter will be posted tomorrow!**

**For all those who've been following diligently, I'm starting another Torchwood fanfic, as some of you may know. The prologue is up. The fanfic's entitled _Goodbye Doesn't Mean Forever_ and is in the actual Torchwood/DocWho universe with slight xover in the very beginning and end to the 11th Doctor. I haven't written all of it yet so expect some slow updates at times with school and stuff.**

**Thanks and see ya!  
**


	8. When It's All Said and Done

**DocWho series 4 xover:**

* * *

A slip of thick paper lay in the crevice. But then again, the TARDIS didn't have crevices. It never had any cracks or breaks; at least, not since the extrapolator shielding had been found and put to good use. He never noticed it. Little petty things like that. That wasn't his problem. His problem was just to try to have fun and take Donna around, giving her the thrills of the universe. His companion's happiness was his. In addition, he was jumping all around the TARDIS, setting controls and dials. His companion could have sworn that the mushroom-shaped console looked like an arcade game. With all that going on in the Time Lord's mind…

Naturally, Donna noticed first.

"Doctor?" she asked, but her one word question was lost in the sound of the Cloister Bell. She studied a paper.

A drawing. A very detailed sketch, really. A sketch of a man sitting on top of the world. Literally. There it was, the earth, and a man was sitting on it, like he was king of the world. Donna turned the paper over to the other side. Just a bunch of meaningless numbers and a scribble on the back.

"Doctor?" the woman tried again after they'd landed in their destination.

"No time to linger Donna!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Who knows what else we have to save?"

"Doctor," Donna repeated, holding up the sketch. "Who's this man?"

The Time Lord's eyes caught on to the paper, the lighting of the TARDIS catching his unneeded glasses. Squinting a bit, he came around the controls of this magnificent time ship and took the paper into his hands, blank side first.

"It's just a bunch of numbers," Donna stated. "What could that mean?"

But the Doctor wasn't listening as he studied the actual drawing. Furrowing his brow, he turned the paper over again and studied the numbers more intently.

"Five point six point one point four three four sigma seven seven seven…" the Doctor read.

"Sigma?" Donna echoed. "Like the Ood?"

"No relation," the Doctor shook his head and looked at the TARDIS doors. "Sorry Donna. Dogs with no noses will have to wait. We have a detour to take." With that, the Doctor set the course for Cardiff.

* * *

One month.

Which actually went by extremely slowly for an immortal man. One of the main reasons was that the Rift was being quiet. Ever since that "incident," it was as if the Rift was content… if a non-living fault line in time and space could even have emotions…

But during that time, Jack was unusually quiet. Not to the point where he didn't talk, but to the point where he didn't joke around as much.

Today was especially a killer for him. He didn't have _anything_ to do until the others went home and he was left alone with Ianto. All the captain did was sit at his desk and watch his team organize files and finish up paperwork.

Jack was left to think.

He didn't like thinking. He had eternity for that. Thinking about the past, present and future. Thinking what might have happened if he never sent Maria back. But Jack knew the answer to that.

Rose would have died. The Doctor would have died. There would have been no hope of saving the earth and exterminating the Daleks if Rose was dead in the first place. The Doctor would have stayed broken like an old toy and let the enemy tear apart the satellite. Moreover, Jack himself wouldn't be here at all. He would have died as well and never met the wonderful people he now called his team.

Jack smiled slightly at the thought, although it seemed a little bit of a selfish reason to send the girl back.

Much to his relief, the immortal man's thoughts were disrupted by a sound that he knew only too well. A sound all of Torchwood Cardiff knew too well. Jack raced out into the main area of the Hub just outside his office. Papers were flying every which way and Gwen's hair whipped in the invisible wind.

When the noise finally stopped, Jack stood right at the doorway of a police box with his team forming a semi-circle around him. The door creaked open and a man's face appeared. He held out a folded piece of paper to the captain who looked back questioningly. The other man just nodded at Jack with an all-knowing gaze and gave a small salute. Jack saluted back, no exchange of words, just a motion, and then the police box was gone.

Jack looked at the corner of the paper that was filled with numbers and then unfolded the paper. The more he studied the paper, the more he smiled his Harkness smile.

"What is it?" Tosh asked.

Jack merely shook his head and folded the paper.

"It means I'm going to be fine."

* * *

_fin._


End file.
